Climate in Shetland (Scotland)

On the Shetland Islands, situated to the north of Scotland, the climate is oceanic, cold and wet most of the year. The wind blows frequently, and can be stormy especially in autumn and winter. Summer is very cool.
The islands are located at the northernmost point of Scotland (and of Great Britain), and 320 km (200 mi) from the southwestern coast of Norway. There are 16 inhabited islands, although often with a few houses. The islands are often connected to each other by sandy isthmuses, over which roads pass.
In the interior there are hills, the highest of which is Ronas Hill, 450 meters (1,480 feet) high. Given that for a few months, it often rains (or snows) with temperatures just above freezing, the altitude of these hills is sufficient to make snow more frequent, and easier for it to accumulate on the ground.
Here are the average temperatures in Lerwick, the capital and largest town.

Precipitation amounts to about 1,250 millimeters (49 inches) per year; the rains are frequent throughout the year, but especially from October to March, while there is a relative minimum in spring and summer.
Here is the average precipitation in Lerwick.

Winter is long and runs from mid-November to mid-April, and it is cold but not freezing: the average temperature is a few degrees above freezing (0 °C or 32 °F). Wind and humidity, however, together with the lack of sunshine, exacerbate the sensation of cold.
Owing to the latitude, the days are very short from November to January. On December 21, the shortest day of the year, the sun rises at 9:08 am and sets at 2:57 pm.
Snowfalls are quite frequent, though not abundant. Cold winds of polar origin blow quite often, but owing to the presence of the sea, the temperature does not drop by much, so there are often light frosts, but it rarely drops below -5 °C (23 °F). The coldest record is -9 °C (16 °F) and was set in January 1952 and 1959.
On the other hand, in periods when the mild westerlies blow, the temperature remains a few degrees above freezing, and can even reach 8/10 °C (46/50 °F), however, in these situations, the sky remains cloudy, and wind and rain are frequent. Intense Atlantic depressions, which often occur in this area, can bring gale-force winds, and cause sea storms.

The short spring, from mid-April to late May, is cold: the temperature remains low, and wintery periods are still possible, with snow showers, even in the first half of May. However, the days are long, the wind slows down a bit, and every so often, you can see the sun.

Summer, from June to August, is very cool, humid and rainy, and sometimes windy. Sometimes fog can form. The temperatures are similar to those of the Mediterranean coasts (Sicily, Cyprus etc.) in winter. Sometimes, the temperature does not exceed 18 °C (64.5 °F) for a whole month, although it can sometimes reach 20/22 °C (68/72 °F). In July 1991 it reached 23.5 °C (74.5 °F), while in July 2022 it reached 23 °C (73.5 °F).
On the positive side, the days are very long. On June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun rises at 3:38 am and sets at 10:34 pm. Since we are at a very high latitude (at the 60th parallel, the same as Helsinki), the white nights occur from 11 May to 1 August, in which it is not completely dark even at midnight.
In addition, summer is the least windy season, even though some days with strong wind are still possible.

Autumn, from September to mid-November, is cloudy, rainy and windy, and it gets progressively colder.



The amount of sunshine is mediocre all year round: cloudy skies are the norm. With just over 1,100 hours of sunshine per year, the Shetland Islands are one of the least sunny places in the world. However, the (relatively) sunniest period goes from April to August. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The sea, which for the latitude is not very cold in winter, remains cold in summer: at most, the water temperature reaches 13 °C (55 °F) in August. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to visit the Shetlands is the summer, from June to August, since it is the mildest season. However, there are often cloudy skies, wind, rain and a bit of cold at night.
In June, it's a bit colder than in July and August, but the days are very long (almost 19 hours, compared to 18 hours in mid-July, and 15 and a half hours in mid-August). In September, the temperature is similar to that of June, but it rains more often and the days are shorter (it can be useful to remember that in September 23, the autumnal equinox, the day lasts 12 hours everywhere in the world).